Private hospitals milking EWS services will lose profits

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has initiated the process of recovering profits made by certain private hospitals by denying free treatment to poor patients. These hospitals stand on lands obtained on concessional rates.

Sources said a meeting in this regard was held last month where the special committee constituted by the Delhi high court to monitor treatment of EWS patients in identified private hospitals decided to begin the process from five hospitals.

"It has also been decided that recovery shall be made for the period from the financial year the hospital concerned became functional till the financial year 2006-07 (till the date of court judgement," said Ashok Agarwal, one of the committee members.

In 2012, the directorate of health services (DHS) had issued letters to 43 identified private hospitals, seeking detailed information on the date of possession of land, services provided and money saved by not providing free treatment to poor patients. The idea was to recover the amount saved by them by denying treatment even then. "There are a lot of legal issues involved. That's why it is taking time but we are confident of recovering the amount. Before beginning the recovery process, we want to give these hospitals one last chance to explain their stand," said Agarwal.

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Earlier people used to visit a pharmacy or a medical store only when they used to be sick but today there is an evolving trend. Now people have suddenly realized that there is a huge potential in being healthy.